Reefer container owners are not yet at a crossroads, when it comes to decisions on refrigerants for new reefer machinery, but that point is drawing ever closer.

On a global level, the refrigerant industry is being driven to ultra-low global warming potential (GWP) products, and the ‘writing is on the wall’ for the main two reefer refrigerants today, HFC R134a and HFC R404A.

As should be well known by now, Carrier Transicold is the first reefer machinery manufacturer to introduce a reefer machine with CO2 refrigerant, which is now commercially available as its NaturaLINE range.

Carrier is standing firm in its belief that, as a non-flammable substance with a GWP of 1, CO2 is the best option for the industry. One of the biggest obstacles it has to overcome is that the CO2 option is not a ‘drop-in’ replacement for R134a in Carrier’s own machinery. The NaturaLINE system is a very different system, using a purpose-built, exclusive, multistage compressor and a custom designed variable speed drive, plus other unique features like the operating software.

Moving ahead

Willy Yeo, director of marketing, Global Container Refrigeration, Carrier Transicold, says some of the major shipping lines are now moving ahead with NaturaLINE. Earlier this year, Maersk Line took delivery of 100 of a planned 200 

NaturaLINE refrigeration units for trial. At the time, Maersk Line said the NaturaLINE units were being installed on 40ft high-cube containers, which it plans initially to deploy on closed-loop routes between Europe and the Americas. 

“Indicative of growing customer interest in the NaturaLINE unit, we also have units on order and in evaluation with other major shipping lines, including Hapag-Lloyd, and leasing companies,” said Yeo. “As well, some of our intermodal

container leasing customers in Europe are also introducing NaturaLINE units into their fleets, to offer customers more environmentally appealing alternatives that also respond to anticipated phase-downs of HFC refrigerants.”

The latter group include Braun Container Trading of Germany and Unit45 of the Netherlands. Unit45 has included NaturaLINE in the 45ft “green” reefer container it unveiled at the biennial Transport Logistic trade fair in Munich this May.

Rotterdam-headquartered Unit45 is marketing its green reefer to customers seeking alternatives to synthetic refrigerants, and believes the timing for CO2 is right. “The trend is toward more environmentally sustainable products, 

especially with the phase-down of traditional refrigerants,” said Jan Koolen, general manager of Unit45. “Our customers, particularly those in stationary containers, but also shortsea carriers and logistics companies, are ready for green solutions that will present new business opportunities. We believe our new container featuring the NaturaLINE unit will appeal to them.”

Complementary

In particular, Unit45 believes NaturaLINE will appeal to customers using CO2 elsewhere in their business. “We think the NaturaLINE-refrigerated containers will be the perfect complement for supermarkets that already use CO2 – based refrigeration and now require additional refrigeration capacity,” said Jan Nouwen, technical manager, Unit45. “For applications such as these, the NaturaLINE unit’s low-sound output will be appreciated by our customers.” 

For Carrier, Yeo stressed that, with a GWP of 1, CO2 (or R-744) is a longterm alternative to synthetic hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants used in conventional container refrigeration  systems. “This can help fleets reduce the potential environmental impact of their shipping operations,” he said. “With its carbon-neutral GWP of 1, CO2 is unaffected by phase downs of HFC refrigerants, such as the European Union’sF-Gas Regulation. It takes customers  directly to an end state, bypassing the need for intermediate refrigerant solutions with GWPs that are not close to that of CO2 .” 

Carrier is also focusing on the flammability advantage of CO2 , noting that “CO2 is also a non-ozone-depleting gas that has an A1 safety rating by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers for low toxicity and no flame propagation. This is significant, as some alternatives being considered by the industry are flammable, which in our view is an unnecessary risk to introduce to a container vessel”. 

Interestingly, although it is not flammable, CO2 was classified under Japan’s High Pressure Safety Gas Act as a Group 3 refrigerant, the most restrictive category, and the same as propane (R290). This was based on concerns about the required pressure in CO2 systems, and safety issues this might create around piping and compressors. 

For some years, the Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association (JRAIA) has been lobbying to get CO2 reclassified. After requiring tests and evaluations, the regulators agreed to reclassify CO2 as a Group 1  refrigerant, the least restrictive category, and the same as inert HFC gases. The move is expected to increase the use of CO2 in air conditioning and other applications. The JRAIA welcomed the change, noting that CO2 is now competing on a level playing field with HFCs. 

The case for propane

Meanwhile, Maersk Container Industry (MCI) continues to push ahead with the development of propane as its next-generation refrigerant, and has made progress in the last year. 

“The design and test phases have been successfully completed and field tests planned,” MCI noted. “The ‘final test’ has been performed at BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung) and evaluated by a certified body. In April 2017, MCI had field test reefers certified and approved for operation on vessels by DNV-GL,” MCI told WorldCargo News.

For MCI, propane is preferred to CO2 for its performance as a refrigerant, as well as on energy consumption criteria. “The performance and energy tests have been passed with excellent results, better or comparable than the R134a

system. Thereby, the clear TEWI advantage has been reaffirmed,” MCI noted. This refers to the total equivalent warming impact (TEWI) that MCI believes is more important than a low GWP number on its own. TEWI considers the

total energy use with average annual fleet operation profiles, leakage and efficiency in operation over the full 15-year minimum lifetime of a reefer container. As has been noted previously, the TEWI of R290 is 0.89, while for CO2 it is 1.08, indicating that R290 is 21% more environmental friendly than CO2.

With this in mind, MCI continues to follow the process for establishing an operating protocol for a propane reefer container. “The compliance process with ISO certification is progressing very well, and in regard to IMO approval, we are commencing the initial fulfilment of their defined requirements,” the firm said. 

“All in all, we have come far, and the product works really well, both for the users and the environment. Time to market is subject to compliance process and, of course, customer demand,” MCI concluded. 

Daikin – R32

As noted by WorldCargo News last year, Daikin has been evaluating refrigerant options including R1234yf, R513A/B and R32. It considers a blend of R32, which has a GWP of 675, and HFO gases to offer one of the best answers to the container refrigerant issue, following the development work the company has already carried out in the air-conditioning field. 

R32 is a “mildly flammable” Class A2L refrigerant, and Daikin is conducting a risk assessment, in order to clarify the potential risks of using A2L refrigerants and to develop the necessary counter-measures. 

Daikin believes that the risks can be mitigated. “Compared to other flammable refrigerants, A2L Class refrigerants are more difficult to ignite, with small propagation, because they have a higher low flammability limit (LFL) and a  power burning velocity and higher minimum ignition energy. Therefore, in Japan, a risk assessment has been done for usage on appliance ACs, which all have been switched in to R32 without any accidents,” the company noted.

Lab testing, however, is only part of the work, as Daikin explained. “It is easy to conduct a combustion experiment, by using the worst scenario of A2L refrigerants. We can simulate a propagation of a fire in the vicinity of the leaked refrigerant of the container and evaluate. But the key focus point is to analyse the possibility of the actual field occurrence of these experiments in reefer operation.

“What’s unique with containers,” Daikin continued, “is that the machine itself moves around and is repaired worldwide.” The biggest risk, therefore, is the absence of an established standard level for repair work, which Daikin notes can be said of any refrigerant. To address this issue, Daikin is developing a “platform” with built-in safety measures to prevent major accidents from occurring, regardless of how containers are repaired.

Get ready

As to when customer demand for ultra-low GWP reefer containers will start to emerge, access to and the cost of today’s synthetic refrigerants are expected to be one of the major drivers. The cost of refrigerant is actually only a very
small factor in the cost of a new reefer, but suppliers point out that, over a large fleet of reefers, the cost is certainly not insignificant. 

It is difficult to measure the extent to which prices for HFCs have affected the reefer market to date. MCI notes that refrigerant prices have, over the last months, “really started to increase to a higher degree”, as have the awareness and focus of its customers on refrigerant prices. 

MCI expects prices will increase further, and notes that “significant price increases of nearly 100% for R404A were already evident in the spring of 2017”. 

It continued: “In the summer, the raw material prices of fluorspar, the basis for hydrofluoric acid (HF), important to produce refrigerants, were also affected. The largest producers, supplying over 50% of HF to the world market, are
located in China. A price increase of 40% was noted, driven by new environmental protection and safety requirements.” 

There does not, however, seem to be the same pressure on R134a as there is on R404A. Daikin notes that, over the last 12 months, and following the Kigali agreement, added to the Montreal Protocol in October 2016, some  refrigerant manufacturers have discontinued R404A production, which is expected to increase price and drive the adoption of alternatives.

“The price of R134a may also rise, but, so far, there seems to be no manufacturers that have announced plans to discontinue the production at this point,” stressed Daikin. Prices for R134a vary globally, and Daikin has seen the 
cost actually decrease in some regions.

Ultimately, this is not expected to endure, and it seems a foregone conclusion that regulatory goals will put the price of R134a under pressure. Carrier points out that “the relatively stable cost of the ultra-low GWP refrigerant CO2 remains the lowest of those refrigerants presently used in container applications, and the differential between it and high GWP HFC refrigerants will logically widen if current trends continue”.

As Carrier notes, current trends are all stacking up against HFC refrigerants. “Due to environmental concerns, many industries are being compelled to move away from high GWP refrigerants,” it said. “We see this certainly in Europe,
where the F-Gas Regulation has taken effect. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Significant New Alternatives Policy has also initiated bans of HFC refrigerants in many applications.”

The Kigali Amendment adds further weight to the regulatory pressure. “What distinguishes it from other regional or national bans is that it will be a legally binding global agreement that ultimately affects all applications of HFCs.  Again, CO2,  with its GWP of 1, is protected against phase-outs, taxes and F-gas regulations,” concluded Carrier.

In the interim

Thermo King is the only large supplier using R404A in reefer containers, and recently introduced R452A as a drop-in replacement with a lower GWP (2,140, compared to 3,920 for R404A). Thermo King has not announced its plans in respect of a very low GWP alternative at this stage. 

When Thermo King announced R452A, it was considerably more expensive than R404A, but the company says one impact of the price increases over the last six months is that the price gap between traditional refrigerants and “some of the lower GWP” alternatives has narrowed. “For example, within our portfolio, we see markets now where the price of R404A and R452A have converged. We expect trends such as these across the refrigerant landscape will  continue to move markets towards more environmentally sustainable solutions,” the company noted. 

Thermo King offers R452A as both a drop-in replacement for R404A, and as an option for new reefer containers. The company says this has been welcomed by its customers, giving them peace of mind. “Some choose to convert directly to R452A immediately, whilst others are happy to purchase the product charged with R404A, with the knowledge that they can convert the fleet to R452A at a future time that is right for them,” the firm explained. “As a company, we are very committed to providing sustainable solutions that provide value to our customers with the minimum of disruption.”

But with its GWP of 2,140, will R452A endure in the market? Thermo King notes that, despite being relatively new, “R452A is now the standard refrigerant for the road transport business within Europe. It has also recently been  approved by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) for use within the US. We are therefore expecting to see  significant growth in that market too”.

MCI also offers a drop-in alternative for its main refrigerant today, R134a, with a lower GWP. Today, Star Cool reefers from MCI factories in China and Chile are delivered with its “R513A Optimized” feature. This enables the refrigerant to be replaced with R513A, which has a 56% lower GWP than R4134a, without any further adjustments of any sort. 

MCI says customers have welcomed this – Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk Line have had R513A reefers in operation since Q1, and others have now followed. “On top of the option to change later, we have acquired R513A refrigerant for 1,000 Star Cool reefers,” said MCI. This has turned out to be a good move, as most of the refrigerant is now booked for new orders. 

Read this item in full
This complete item is approximately 3000 words in length, and appeared in the August 2017 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 27-29. To access this issue download the PDF here.